Raw Materials, Energy Sources, and Industrial Landscapes
Item 6: Raw Materials
Raw materials can be organic or mineral.
The raw materials come from organic life forms.
The mineral raw materials come from the earth’s crust and can be metals, nonmetals, and mineral energetics.
The production of raw materials on Earth is concentrated in the countries of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, which are major world exporters.
Sources of Energy
Energy sources are natural resources that provide the industry with the power needed to transform raw materials into finished products.
Energy sources are classified according to two criteria: duration and use.
According to Duration
- Non-Renewable: These are depleted when used, as their formation process requires millions of years, and their reserves are limited. These include coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium.
- Renewable: These are inexhaustible because they continuously renew. Among these are the sun, water, wind, and sea.
According to Use
- Traditional: These are the most widely used long-term sources: oil, natural gas, hydropower, and nuclear fission energy.
- Alternative: These have limited use because their technology is being researched or is expensive. This is the case for solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, tidal, and nuclear fusion.
Types of Industry
- Basic Industries: These produce preforms and steel. They are heavy industries, as they consume large quantities of raw materials and require heavy capital investments and large spaces.
- Capital Equipment Industries: These manufacture products needed for the operation of other industries and for transportation, including construction, machinery and industrial equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, robotics, and electronics.
- Consumer Goods Industries: These produce products aimed directly at the consumer, such as food, textiles, and chemicals.
Landscapes of the First Industrial Revolution
The First Industrial Revolution took place approximately between 1770 and 1870. It emerged in Britain and spread to other European countries.
It was based on the introduction of the steam engine, which used carbon as an energy source. The work was done in factories with a division of labor.
The main industries were steel or iron metallurgy and textiles. The appearance of the train and steamboat was significant.
Industrial Location:
- Iron and Steel Industries: These consumed large amounts of iron and carbon and were installed near coalfields, iron mines, ports, and railway stations, creating “black landscapes.”
- Textile Industries: Lighter industries tended to be located in cities, taking advantage of the proximity to markets and an abundant workforce.
Landscapes of the Second Industrial Revolution
The Second Industrial Revolution took place from 1870 in countries like the USA, Germany, and Japan (until the 1973 oil crisis).
It was based on the appearance of new machines and energy sources, such as the internal combustion engine powered by oil and the electric motor powered by electricity. The development of work in large factories was controlled by business concentrations (trusts, cartels, holdings). In these factories, Fordism and Taylorism’s assembly line work was imposed.
The main industries were steel, electrochemical, petrochemical, and, above all, the sectors of capital goods and consumer goods, such as the automobile.
Mature industries crashed in the 1970s due to the rising price of oil. To address these problems, many states helped their conversion by closing unprofitable businesses or adjusting production and labor, and modernizing techniques and products to make them more competitive. At the same time, there was a drive for re-industrialization of the affected areas, promoting the installation of modern industries.
Landscapes of the Third Industrial Revolution
The Third Industrial Revolution has been in development since 1973.
It is based on the use of new information technologies (microelectronics, computers, telecommunications), which transmit information instantly, and robotics, which enables automatic work.
The work takes place in smaller factories, as new technologies allow splitting the manufacturing process into phases and performing them in separate facilities. Fewer industrial workers have increased the “tertiarization” of industrial employment.
The main sectors of these industries are new telematics technologies, lasers, biotechnology, and new materials.
The industrial location becomes much more flexible, thanks to factors such as cheaper transport and the use of new technologies.
Technology parks and specialized concentrations (Technopolis) emerge.
Global Distribution of Industry
The major industrial concentrations are located in:
- U.S.: The world’s leading industrial power, thanks to the availability of raw materials, energy sources, advanced technology, and a huge domestic market.
- European Union: Owes its high industrialization to a long industrial tradition, technological development, and a broad market.
- Japan: Has high technology, abundant skilled labor, and a large market in the East.
Other more isolated industrial areas are located in developed or developing areas that have some of these features:
- Large natural resources
- Abundant and cheap labor
The less industrialized areas are located in third-world countries due to a lack of capital, market shortages, and poor communications.